NOPD body cam footage sheds light on ‘high-risk’ arrest, use-of-force investigation – NOLA.com

The New Orleans Police Department released body-worn camera footage Friday of an ongoing use-of-force investigation involving an officer who on Jan. 25 fired three times at an armed teen suspect.

Later linked to 46 crimes, the 15-year-old boy rammed police vehicles with a stolen car in an unsuccessful attempt to flee the scene in Fontainebleau, police said.

"I'm incredibly grateful to God Himself that no NOPD officer was shot or killed," New Orleans police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said at a media briefing. "And in this event, fortunately the young man was taken into custody without any injury to him from gunfire."

The youth sustained a few scrapes when he fled the stolen vehicle and an officer tackled him to the ground. He was treated at Children's Hospital, police said.

The dozens of crimes the teen allegedly committed in Orleans Parish include an aggravated assault, at least two attempted carjackings and a slew of break-ins.

Shortly after midnight on Jan. 25, officers found the stolen white Jeep used in those burglaries near the intersection of Earhart Boulevard and College Court. In the driver's seat, a teen appeared to be passed out, a firearm visible in his waistband.

Body-worn camera footage reveals officers surrounding the vehicle on foot and boxing it with police vehicles as another officer shined a flashlight at the suspect through the Jeep's window.

"Open the door! Open the f---ing door!" one officer demanded.

The suspect briefly held up his hands before placing them on the wheel and pressing the gas, smashing into police vehicles multiple times as officers instructed him to get out of the car with increasing urgency, several with weapons drawn.

"Do not reach for the gun! I will shoot!" an officer yelled.

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Body-worn camera footage shows an officer firing three times over a roughly 45-second interval as the suspect vehicle bears down on him, hindered by a chain-link fence. The suspect eventually flees the vehicle through a rear passenger window and is tackled by another officer, scraping his head in the process, police said.

NOPD's Force Investigation Team is investigating allegations of excessive use of force in the incident, Kirkpatrick said. Investigators were present on the scene, as was the independent police monitor. The federal consent decree monitoring team was notified.

The Force Investigation Team released video footage of the incident to comply with transparency mandates in the federal consent decree.

Per NOPD policy, deadly force may be used only in limited circumstances, which include preventing the escape of a subject if "that escape would pose an imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury to the officer or another person."

The teen suspect was booked on one count of resisting an officer with force or violence, one count of juvenile in possession of a firearm and three counts of aggravated assault upon a peace officer with a motor vehicle. NOPD did not release his name.

The 27-year NOPD veteran who fired his weapon has returned to full duty after being briefly reassigned to desk duty, which is protocol after a critical incident.

"It is an amazing amount of restraint that our officers practiced," Kirkpatrick said. "You saw the video. You yourself saw that gun and how easily it was accessible... plus the car being used to try to ram. So obviously, very high risk, and I was very pleased with the restraint of our officers."

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NOPD body cam footage sheds light on 'high-risk' arrest, use-of-force investigation - NOLA.com